Tigers turn the tables on Kubs, win 2A WPL boys basketball district title

The Kendrick Tigers are no strangers to championship sports victories.

Indeed, they have not failed to claim a district title in boys football or basketball since before any of their current players reached high school.

Nevertheless, Wednesday’s 52-46 Kendrick victory over the regular-season 2A Whitepine League champion Kamiah Kubs in the district final at Lewiston High School came as a surprise to many observers. It was the second consecutive upset pulled by the third-seeded Tigers, who had upended No. 2 seed Logos of Moscow 70-62 in the semifinals two nights earlier and were eager to prove that result was no fluke.

Kendrick now advances to the 2A state tournament in its first season since moving up from Idaho Class 1A Division II (now known simply as 1A).

“I’m just really happy for the kids,” Kendrick coach Steve Kirkland said. “They’ve been playing well the second half of the season, they work hard every day and they earned it.”

Kendrick comes in clutch

Kamiah had won both of the teams’ regular-season meetings, topping Kendrick 60-53 on Dec. 13 and 65-58 on Jan. 25. The latter game was the Tigers’ most recent loss to any opponent — after a 7-7 start to their season, they have now won 10 straight.

“We have a mostly new team this year, and I think it just took a while to get us together and playing well,” said Kirkland, himself a first-year coach. “We had a really tough nonconference schedule, so ... that 7-7 wasn’t as good as what we wanted, but it wasn’t bad considering the teams we were playing.”

Hudson Kirkland, son of the coach, sparked the Tigers (17-7) to a 13-11 lead through the opening quarter that established the potential for an upset.

“We told the kids, ‘Win the first quarter and that’s going to be one of the keys to the game,’” Steve Kirkland said. “We won the first quarter, and we had a little bit of momentum and energy, and the kids just fed off that.”

Kamiah (19-2) would tie things back up at 21-21 by halftime, only for the Tigers to pull ahead 37-30 through three quarters after Ralli Roetcisoender found the magic touch from long range and delivered a series of swished 3-point goals.

“You just get in the zone,” he said later. “Once you get in the zone, it’s hard to get out.”

The Kubs clawed their way back to a 46-45 lead midway through the fourth quarter, but Kendrick responded in style. Showing the confidence of a program used to delivering in high-pressure postseason scenarios, the Tigers iced the game with five consecutive made free throws — an and-1 from Maddox Kirkland, two from Cade Silflow and finally two from Hudson Kirkland, bringing him to his team-high total of 18 points.

Rising up to the challenge of their rivals

“They’ve made it easy because they’ve been such a great group to coach this year,” Steve Kirkland said of his first season at the helm. “It’s going to be something that they’re familiar with, but we’ll start preparing and get after it.”

Hudson Kirkland led the team with 10 rebounds to go with his 18 points, while Roetcisoender hit five 3-pointers and totaled 17 points.

“Defensively, Kolt Koepp tonight and Wyatt Cook did a really good job on David Kludt, who is obviously a really good player,” Steve Kirkland said. “We had a lot of really good energy and rebounded well down the stretch.”

A College of Idaho signee who loomed over the field at 6-foot-6, Kludt still led all scorers with 19 points on the day.

Hank Heimgartner, a 14-year-old team manager and statkeeper described by Steve Kirkland as the “real MVP,” said that he had watched the Tigers adjust to their step up in opposition over the course of the season.

“We finally got up to the level of 2A, and started playing basketball like 2A,” he said.

Each of the Tigers’ last two victories came against teams currently ranked in the top five in Idaho Class 2A state media polling, with Logos sitting in fifth place and Kamiah second.

Up next

The Kubs, who won their first 18 games of the season, have now lost two of their last three. They will face the Logos Knights today in loser-out play at 5 p.m. back at Lewiston High School. Kamiah and Logos split regular-season meetings.

The Tigers will see their next action at the Idaho Class 2A state championships to be held at Vallivue High School in Caldwell on March 6-8.

KAMIAH (19-2)

Jayden Crowe 3 1-2 8, Matthew Oatman 3 1-2 7, Jack Engledow 0 0-0 0, Everett Oatman 1 0-0 2, David Kludt 6 5-5 19, Lawson Landmark 4 0-0 10. Totals 17 7-9 46.

KENDRICK (17-7)

Maddox Kirkland 2 1-1 5, Cade Silflow 2 2-2 7, Ralli Roetcisoender 5 2-4 17, Kolt Koepp 1 0-0 3, Wyatt Cook 1 0-0 2, Hudson Kirkland 6 4-4 18. Totals 16 9-11 52.

Kamiah 11 10 10 15—46

Kendrick 13 8 17 14—52

3-point goals — Kludt 2, Landmark 2, Crowe, Roetcisoender 5, H. Kirkland 2, Silflow, Koepp.

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.